Unbridled and Unbroken
by Aurorax
Summary: A collection of drabbles exploring the growing relationship between Kel and Evin, from friends to lovers. These were formerly part of my Digging Deeper series, but since there will be quite a few on the same theme, I moved all Kel/Evin drabbles here.
1. Comfortable Silence

These drabbles will all focus on Kel and Evin's budding relationship, since they're my Midwinter pairing of choice this year. Prompts are from the Advent Calender at fiefgoldenlake dot proboards dot com. These were formerly part of my "Digging Deeper" set, but since I should end up with 20-30 Kel/Evin based pieces, I wanted to give them a separate story. Sorry for any confusion this caused!

* * *

**Title: **Comfortable Silence

**Prompt: **Winter

She was standing off to one side, hovering on the edge of the crowd of dancers and smiling faces, a single calm figure amid the whirling shapes and sounds of the ballroom. A small smile played across her face as she watched her friends steal kisses, reunited with the loved ones they had left behind, but the smile was for everyone else, not for herself. Evin wondered if she was as uncomfortable as he was, if she too found the ornate decorations and lavish trays of food glaringly incongruous after months in the field. Didn't they know how many had died, to give them something to celebrate? Suddenly it was too warm, too bright, too crowded, the laughter too loud and careless- he couldn't breathe.

He shivered slightly as he stepped outside, but the cool winter air sobered him quickly as it bit through his thin tunic. Leaning against the paddock fence, he let the familiar scents wash over him, the horse and leather and sweat that was his daily life. The silence of the evening was broken only by the thin crunching of snow beneath light footsteps, a subtle warning that he wasn't the only one enjoying a break from the celebrations. He wondered which of the gilded ladies had been bold enough to follow him and cursed her courage, savoring his last few moments of peace while he waited for the offer, of a dance, a kiss, or a bed to share. But it never came; there was only the slight creak of old wood as the fence bent under added weight. He didn't have to look to know that it was her, searching for the same thing that he was searching for, whatever that was. And as he stood silently in the snow on the longest night of winter, he thanked Mithros that there was someone who could understand.


	2. Alone Together

Another in my series of Midwinter Kel/Evin drabbles.

* * *

**Title: **Alone Together

**Prompt: **Candles

It was late, too late for anyone in their right mind to still be awake. And it was cold, the harsh bone-chilling cold of a clear night unsoftened by drifting flakes. Yet there he was, sneaking back to his rooms like a silly squire, and it was all his own damn fault. He should have known better than to go looking for a distraction. The idea of having just one night where he could forget about the world and the war and simply enjoy himself had seemed so enticing earlier that night, but he had known almost as soon as he got to the Inn that this wasn't what he was looking for. So he had been forced to drown his sorrows until he finally came to his senses and started the long walk back to the Palace, the alcohol just making his steps feel heavier rather than coursing warmth through his veins.

The Palace was dark as he cut through the gardens, savoring the silence. This was one of his favorite shortcuts, but since he had returned from the North it had been packed with young ladies chattering over the return of the men and trying to catch themselves a war hero. It was only the boldest who would approach him- Commander or not, he didn't have a drop of noble blood in him and any girls who showed interest were surely doing so against their parent's wishes- but it was still an annoyance, one he was happy to be without if only this once. It was almost pleasant, being out here in the silence while all around him people slept. As he stared out across the rows of blackened windows, a sudden flickering light caught his eye, blinding him for a moment- someone had just lit a candle. Someone else, then, who the night had brought no peace; it was nice to know that he wasn't alone. Looking closer, he realized it was her room, and he wasn't really surprised. Changing course, he turned instead towards the kitchens, acting without thinking, without hesitation. It was still too early for the servants to be awake, but he was good with locks and they always left a fire burning.

He knocked awkwardly on her door, his hands burdened with two mugs of steaming coffee and his brain still confused about what he was doing here. If anyone saw him, there would be talk, the kind of talk that Kel was so careful to avoid. This was stupid and reckless and she probably just wanted to be alone; it wasn't fair to dump his own problems on her shoulders as well when she was already trying to carry so much.

***

The desk in front of her was nearly covered in papers, and her hands itched to organize the mess. But it was too late to be up walking about- someone might hear her, and mention it to one of her friends, and then they'd all be concerned over nothing. Neal had asked her yesterday if she was having trouble sleeping again, and he wouldn't take it well if he learned that she had lied to him. It wasn't like she didn't have plenty to do, what with filling out even more field reports for the King and petitioning for more supplies to go to New Hope as soon as the snows permitted travel. Just because she wasn't stationed there anymore didn't mean she had forgotten about her friends, and that paperwork wasn't going to do itself.

Sighing, she lit another candle and sat down to work, massaging her eyes with the heel of her hand and running her fingers through her short hair. It had happened almost everyday this week, the feeling that drove sleep away and forced her into this hard wooden desk chair at an ungodly hour of the morning- not a nightmare as much as an overwhelming sense that there was something she needed to do, something she had forgotten to take care of that they might have to pay for in lives in the morning. Even when she woke up enough to remember that she was back at the Palace now and a treaty had been signed, her racing heart still kept her from getting any rest, and those closest to her were starting to notice. It would be another long night- she would have to do something tomorrow about the circles under her eyes, before Neal made her take one of his noxious herbal mixes.

She was startled out of her silent reverie by a light tapping sound. It seemed like a timid knock, but no one would be awake at this time, and certainly no one would come to her rooms in the middle of the night. Still, she was nearly sure someone had been at the door...or maybe it was just the lack of sleep playing tricks on her mind. That was the last thing she needed now, to start hearing voices on top of everything else. Still, this wouldn't be the first time that she had been summoned in the middle of the night, though not while she was at home since she had still been a squire with the Own. Reluctantly she unwrapped herself from the blanket and went to assure herself that everything was all right.

***

He was halfway down the hall when he heard the door open softly. She peered out into the darkness, night-blinded after the brightness of the candlelit room, and he almost kept walking. But then she recognized him, and something about the way her face seemed to light up across the dim, silent space between them just stopped him in his tracks. So he turned back towards the circle of illumination that marked her room, and asked if she'd like any coffee.

***

She pretended not to notice the heavy scent of alcohol on his breath or the way his hands shook as he lifted the heavy mug to his lips.

***

He didn't ask why she was still awake in the silent pre-dawn hours, refusing to allude to the paperwork or whatever demons it was keeping at bay.

***

They sat and talked until the first streaks of light began to color the sky, about everything and nothing, their families and horses and lives before the Palace.

***

As Evin left, he laughed silently to himself at the thought that he had found what he was looking for, in a place he had never expected.

***

For once in her life, Kel decided to ignore the tolling of the dawn bell and drifted off into her first peaceful sleep in days, a small smile playing across her face.


	3. Footprints

More Kel/Evin fun. Enjoy!

* * *

**Title: **Footprints

**Prompt: **Family

Evin never really felt lonely at Midwinter- it was a time for family, true, and he didn't have any left in the strictest sense, but the Riders had been his family for years and the wine always flowed most freely on the longest nights of the year. So he was happy as he stared absentmindedly out the window, letting his eyes rest on Kel's wheeling form in the practice courts below. Each time the wind blew, a powdering of crystals settled delicately upon her and her glaive, shimmering there for one minute before being shaken off once again by the next blow or parry. She had been spending more and more time there, he had noticed, despite the light snow and the bone-numbing cold which had settled over the palace in the weeks leading up to the holidays. It had to be hard for her, seeing the families reunited, since she had so many relatives to miss. And watching her friends spend their first Midwinter with new wives and lovers couldn't help. Knowing Kel, she was trying too hard to give them space at the expense of her own loneliness; it was a joke among the men, how she cared so much for everyone but herself, but Evin knew it was true. He also knew that like as not she was liable to freeze to death if she spent any more time outside practicing, so he did the first thing he could think of and grabbed a hasty assortment of winter gear to go remind her how much Baird hated treating frostbitten fingers. The Riders were having a party in a few nights; maybe he would be able to convince her to stop by and enjoy herself in a more constructive way for a few hours. With the Own still out in the field, there wouldn't even be any of her men around to object and remind her of where her loyalties were to lie. He had been looking for a chance to talk to her without the threat of war hanging over their heads. And everyone always said that anything could happen at Midwinter.

He cut down the servant's stairway and out into the lower courtyard, bracing himself against the cold as he hurried to the practice courts. But when he turned the final corner, they were empty, and the wind blew freely over the intricate pattern of footprints and trampled ground she had left behind, the fragile crystals falling on naught but empty air.


	4. Shocking

**Title: **Shocking

**Prompt: **Traditions

The Riders and the Own always competed to see who could shock the conservatives the most over Midwinter. It was a tradition as old as the Riders themselves, lighting up the endless parties and balls since a young Buri and Raoul had decided that celebrations were more interesting when you added a wager more than twenty years before. The Riders had won that first year- Raoul had underestimated the courage of the fiery K'miri girl, and the story of Master Oakbridge chasing the pony through the kitchens was passed down reverently through the ranks of men.

But what with the war and the reappearance of immortals, it had been years since the two groups had been together at the Palace over Midwinter, and they had vowed to make this year more spectacular than ever. Even the King, who'd never fully approved of the "childish games" that angered the people whose support he needed most, couldn't find it in himself to complain. The years of war had been long and hard on everyone, but the soldiers especially, who had had to watch their comrades fall and risk their lives day in and day out. They all needed something to take their minds off the destruction, a way to let off steam.

The Riders' mounts went missing, then the Ownsmens' swords and a number of their commanders as well. Songs were sung, jokes told, and rumors spread throughout the castle. But when the rookie Commander walked over and kissed the lady knight who had formerly been the King's Own Squire in the middle of a formal breakfast, everyone could only gasp in surprise. And while the betting pools went to shambles and the stiffest among the conservatives seemed ready to faint, the Riders and the Own finally agreed to call it a tie. Everyone knew that Evin and Kel couldn't be beaten, and their impromptu joke of a kiss would go down in history.

~*~

Evin hadn't planned it. He had, in fact, been plotting the best method of repossessing Raoul's field reports and making a few choice alterations before the Council meeting that afternoon. But then he had seen her in front of him, laughing at something Owen had said. She didn't glow, or light up the room, or any of that other romantic nonsense his boys always came up with after too long in the field. She was just Kel, solid and indestructible and fearless, and he was unable to take his eyes off her. He didn't think as he walked over to her, drawing the eyes of the young knights whose tables he passed- they must have seen something in his face, some strange determination to finally make a move. She turned abruptly as she heard him approach, surprise registering in her eyes and in her shy smile as he took another step, then another, closer and closer.

~*~

She was kissing Evin, and the world was watching. Her first reaction was to panic- what would everyone say? But then his lips hardened beneath hers, and all other thoughts were driven out of her mind. She was caught up in a whirlwind of cider and cinnamon and nerves, sweet and rough like worn leather. Then it was over, and everything was spinning as the sound of catcalls exploded in her head. She heard Evin whisper something in her ear, and it sounded like a laugh; she could tell he was smiling, his breath like sunshine against her skin. He had already walked away by the time she realized that he had said "Midwinter luck". She had been frozen for a moment, stunned and unsure. Then she had laughed, because it was all she could do, and the room had laughed with her, sharing the joke, thinking it had all been planned. She looked around for Evin, but he was already gone.

That night, alone in her room, Kel wondered why he had done it. She had been surprised by the depth of her feelings- maybe she had just wanted to connect with someone, anyone, even for just a moment. Or maybe there was something special about Evin, something that explained why he could make her feel safe, why she was willing to share more with him after a few weeks than with the people she'd known for years. But Evin loved a good joke, she knew that, and besides, it was just a silly, meaningless tradition.


	5. Stacked Deck

**Title: **Stacked Deck

**Prompt: **Luck

Evin didn't believe in luck. After a few hands of cards, he was often called lucky; whatever poor soul he was playing that night would say that Mithros had smiled the day he was born and slide over another handful of coins. And Evin's boys would have to turn away to hide their laughter, since they knew how much luck could be bought by a well-stacked deck and an ace in the sleeve. It was those who trusted their lives to whims of the Gods who were the first to die in the field, and anyone worth their salt in the Riders learned quickly enough that the best type of fortune was that which you made for yourself.

As he looked out upon another beautiful Midwinter morning, dancing as the biting cold chill of the flags beneath his feet forced away the last traces of sleep, he thought back to the kiss of the morning before. To kiss a pretty girl brought good fortune over Midwinter, that was the tradition. No, Evin didn't believe in luck. But one more kiss like that just might change his mind.

Then he remembered that this was Kel, that she wasn't pretty, wasn't interested, and sure as hell wasn't romantic enough to believe in something as silly as an old superstition. What could he give her besides a worthless blessing? She made her own luck, same as any good soldier. And Evin smiled, because that was the way he liked it.


End file.
